A new public art installation is making its way to the Garment District, and it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser. Created by artists Olivier Girouard (Ekumen) and Jonathan Villeneuve (concept and execution), Ottoblix (animations), Generique Design (industrial design), Thomas Ouellet Fredericks (electronic design), Adsum Lab (technical support), Jérôme D. Roy (mechanical consultant), and Dominic Thibault (audio programming), the interactive piece — called Loop — features six large, illuminated cylinders that display musical movies, inspired by 13 fairytales. Previously, the same team brought the wheels to Luminothérapie, Quebec’s largest annual competition for temporary public art installations, as well as Montreal’s arts and entertainment district, Quartier des spectacles.
“We were inspired by the mechanical poetry of the zoetrope to give the public — thanks to digital technology — an extraordinary immersive experience,” said the designers in a statement. “It will be interesting to see how each person responds, but in any case we want to stimulate everyone’s imagination and encourage all to participate, helping people see public space differently.”
Each “retro-futuristic” cylinder, measuring seven feet in length, three feet in width and nine feet in height, is equipped with a lever, which controls the lights and sounds to create an “animated, flip book-style” display. However, teamwork and public participation is needed in order to bring the installation to life: the light patterns, tempo of music and speed at which the images flip are all determined by how fast visitors pump the lever, according to CurbedNY.
You can see how it all works in the video above. Essentially a hybrid “between the music box, the zootrope and the lever stick,” Loop will make its U.S. debut on the Garment District’s pedestrian plazas between West 37th and 38th Streets tomorrow, February 16 at 7pm.
Next, check out 19 Art Installations and Exhibits in NYC Not to Miss in February.